The application window is closed. Now Commerce city manager Pete Pyrzenski begins the task of selecting the city’s first community improvement director from among 16 applicants.

Pyrzenski said he hopes to have that person hired “by no later than the latter part of July.”

He’ll first go through the resumes and, “based off the skill sets we want, break it down to the top five, maybe four” applicants, after which he will conduct background checks utilizing sources from around the state.

The next step will be face-to-face interviews with those finalists, from which Pyrzenski will narrow the field to a pair of finalists who will interview before a panel comprising Pyrzenski, a member of the Downtown Development Authority board, a local resident “with longstanding knowledge of planning, zoning and codes,” possibly an elected official, and two department heads.

The city is offering a salary of $52,569 to $63,676 for “a dynamic individual with strong leadership, management and interpersonal skills,” according to its job posting on the Georgia Local Government Access website.